Pokemon Sagas: Tia's Tales
by KingOGreen2.0
Summary: Check out Tia's adventures in the exciting world of Pokemon. A more mature take on the series filled with humor, suspense, and tons of Pokemon battling action! This series blends many of the elements from the games, anime, and the Pokemon Adventures (Special) manga into a truly unique story. Updates every Wednesday!
1. Chapter 1: A Journey Begins

Pokémon Sagas: Tia's Tales

"Adventures in Kanto"

Chapter 1: A Journey Begins

The dawn of a new day pours into the modest room of a Pallet Town girl. The light soothes her face, with her crystal clear blue eyes slowly opening. This girl, Tia, sits up to wipe the sleep out of her eyes, is on the edge of a new adventure of her own in the world of Pokemon. Tia was girl with the body of a young woman, sleek black hair, flawless pale skin, and a figure many girls her age envied. Unlike many children, she waited until she was 16 before taking on the Pokemon League.

"Good Morning," she sighs, talking to herself before snapping out of her daze. "That's right, today's the day!" She shouts, throwing herself out of bed, and makes a mad dash down the hall, wearing nothing more than a pair of pajama bottoms, and a blouse she wears to bed. She runs to the steps and begins to descend when she slips on the threshold causing her to tumble down the steps. "Ow..." She says sorely as she reaches the bottom.

"Careful honey that first step is slippery." Her mother laughs lightly, stirring a pot, with a feint concern for her sometimes clumsy, yet durable, daughter.

"Thanks mom..." She stands up, and continues running to the door.

"Honey, aren't you forgetting something?" Her mom asks without giving her a second glance.

"What's that mom?" Tia asks confused.

"Clothes," her mother says plainly with a smile on her face.

Immediately Tia looks down to she was still in her, now ruffled, pajamas. "Ah!" She shouts running back upstairs into her room. Throwing off her pajamas she quickly snatches her clothes. A white tank top; a short, zip down, red hoodie, and black skirt to tie the outfit together. The tank top and hoodie we both short enough to flaunt her slender midriff, and the skirt was just long enough to hide her thighs.

Tia takes her time down the stairs this time before run back the front door. "Much better, good luck dear." Her mom greets her at the door, more approving of this wardrobe.

"Thanks mom!" She shouts running out the door to Oak's Lab.

The weather in Pallet was always so warm and invited this time of year. It was perfect for anyone who wished to escape the hustle and bustle of the cities. This was true for one young man in particular.

A ways down the road a young man, about 16, sporting a black t-shirt, jeans, and a red zipped down vest; with messy, brown hair is kneeling near the edge of Pallet's lake with a small wash rag in his hand. "There we go, all clean. You're going to be the cutest Cleffa anyone's ever seen." He harps over his little, pink Cleffa as it waves its little arms. The young man couldn't resist grabbing his little Star Shape Pokemon, holding it way above his head.

Suddenly, Tia comes charging down the road; not paying attention to her surrounds she slams right into the trainer causing both to crash to the ground; launching Cleffa in the process. "Cleffa!" He shouts in distress, scrambling to catch it. "Oh thank god, you're okay." He breathes a deep sigh, clutching it close to his chest. Tia brushes off the dirt and continues her sprinting. "Hey!" The trainer shouts causing her to turn and start jogging in place.

"What?" She asks in a rush.

"Thanks to you stampeding like a mad Tauros you almost made me drop my poor Cleffa! Apologize to her!" He hold Cleffa out in front of her, who looked a little scared.

"Listen I'm in a rush right now, I don't have time for this." She tries to excuse herself.

"Dammit, I will follow you to the ends of the Earth until you apologize!" He urges, cradling Cleffa in his arms.

"Fine, I'm sorry." Tia tells him annoyed. "Can I go now? I need to get to Professor Oak's lab." She panics about to gun it if he says another word.

"Geez is that all? Calm down, the lab's not going to upping leave on you. Cleffa and I are on our way there ourselves." He says, trying to tame the wild trainer. Tia finally stops to breathe and calm herself.

"Wait, are you a trainer too?" She asks him walking down the road next him.

"Well, more of a researcher, I travel from region to region studying Pokemon." He modestly admits. "I've done work with Samuel in the past." He laughs, rubbing the back of his head.

"Wow, must be a good buddy of yours if you are on a first name basis." Tia looks a little shocked a kid her age is so close to the Professor. A man she herself rarely talks to despite being neighbors.

"Yeah back in Johto I spent a year with him and Mr. Pokemon studying breeding." He tells her, trying not to sound like he was gloating. "That's how I met this little cutey, hatched her myself." He says like a proud parent.

They continue a little ways before reaching the entrance of Oak's lab. As they open the door they are greeted by the hums and beeps of machines, bright flashing lights, and cool air flowing through the room. Looking around Tia spots the professor standing in the back by a table. "Oh, Tia, I'm glad you're here." Oak walks forward greeting her with his usual pleasantries. "And Tom, well this is a pleasant surprise, I wasn't expect to see you." He says grinning at his Cleffa, who is all too familiar with him.

"Nice to see you too, I just sailed into Kanto a few days ago and thought I'd pay you a visit." Tom says, seeming more professional than his easy going demeanor from before. "Cleffa really wanted to see you too." He laughs as Cleffa waves her arms as if to say hello.

Prof. Oak smiles and waves back. "Well, I shouldn't leave our aspiring, new trainer waiting; come get your first Pokemon." Prof. Oak gestures Tia to the back table where three Pokeballs sit, making her excited to choose. This decision will mark the beginning of her grand adventure in the world of Pokemon.

* * *

A/N: Well, this marks the end of my end of the first chapter in my series. I really hope you all liked it. I hope you all give it a read, follow, and leave your thoughts on story, characters, or my writing overall.

I fully intend to publish a chapter once a week. This is a bold declaration I know, but don't worry I'll do it. At the time of submitting this first chapter I have written the first 40 chapters of this series and 3+ side stories; I'm still not even halfway down either. So I hope you all enjoyed and I look forward to continuing here on FanFiction.


	2. Chapter 2: A Pokemon and A Partner

Chapter 2: A Pokemon and a Partner

"Here you have three choices." Prof. Oak says as he opens the Pokeballs which shoot out beams of light which manifest into Pokemon. "The Grass and Poison type Bulbasaur, the Fire type Charmander, and the Water type Squirtle." Prof. Oak explains.

Before Tia can get a word out Tom interrupts, "They're so cute!" He sets Cleffa down and watches her talk to the Charmander with a cheery grin on his face.

She laughs awkwardly, "Anyways, who should I choose?" She studies each Pokemon carefully one by one still mulling the decision over in her mind.

"Each Pokemon has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. Bulbasaur has the best type advantage early on, Squirtle has the best defenses, and Charmander is the heaviest hitter not only physically but Special wise too, but suffers from a poor typing early on." Tom says just starting forward at each without taking a second to think. "But you know, that's just one guy's opinion." He smiles looking back up at her.

Tia stares at him stunned. Tia can't help think it's no wonder he's an associate of Prof. Oak. "Well, I know who I'm choosing." She kneels down next to Tom; looking over them all once more before focusing on Bulbasaur. "Will you be my partner Bulbasaur?" She asks it, it responds by jumping in her arms. It affectionately nuzzling itself in her chest. "That tickles," she laughs, holding her new Bulbasaur in her arms.

"You girls will get along great." Tom smiles with a toothy grin before grabbing Cleffa and standing. Tia's surprised he knew its gender; she had no clue Bulbasaur was a girl, but after he analyzed them earlier it shouldn't be that surprising.

"Well it's all settled then, here's Bulbasaur's Pokeball. I know you'll take great care of her." Prof. Oak says as he gives Bulbasaur one final pat on the head before saying goodbye.

"I will professor, don't have to worry about that." She says with a certain determination in her eyes; the kind Oak had seen many times before. The same burning passion every great trainer before shared.

She begins walking out the door, Tom following suit. He quickly turns around, "Nice seeing you again Samuel, tell Gary I said hi." Tom states with that same level of professionalism he used before.

The young trainer take her first steps outside, "My journey starts now, let's go Bulbasaur!" She set her Pokemon down as they start running off and straps the Pokeball to a belt she wore over her skirt.

"Wait!" Tom shouts, making Tia stop dead in her tracks.

"What's the matter?" She looks around in confusion not thinking she might be forgetting anything important for any trainer's quest..

"Where are your supplies?" He asks, hoping she had considered that.

"What do you mean supplies?" She scratches her head, not quite sure what he meant.

"You're kidding right?" He drops the bag he was carrying on his back. "Sleeping bag, potions, Pokeballs, food, change of clothes." He shows her all the basics he carries. "Come on, the wild isn't going to be luxurious." He rubs his forehead at her lack of foresight.

"Oh, guess I didn't think of that." She feels silly thinking about it now.

"Clearly," he says rather dryly, not hiding the fact that he pretty much just insulted her.

"I guess I should go home real quickly then." She says running home, Tom following close behind. She reaches her front door where her mom stood waiting with a warm smile. "Hey mom, I'm just back to pick up some supplies." She smiles, with a goofy grin.

"I know dear, that's why I took the liberty of packing a sleeping bag, pajamas, extra set of clothes, clothesline, some food, a couple potions we had lying around, and a map." She smiles, handing over the bag to her daughter. "Oh who's this young gentleman?" She notices Tom behind Tia.

"Tom, ma'am, I'm glad to see someone was here to help her begin her journey." He says with a condescending glance at Tia, again, like he's some sort of professional.

"Oh, how polite, my daughter can be impulsive and might forget things from time to time." She laughs gently which only makes Tia blush. "Though if it isn't too much to ask, may you please help my daughter get her bearings? I worry you see." She very politely asks like talking to someone of her level.

"No trouble at all ma'am. I know this region like the back of my hand, a very nice place, it reminds me of my home in Hoenn." He says nostalgically. This is news to Tia and she's pretty surprised to hear this.

"Oh, a world travel?" Her mother was very impressed.

"Well, more like a researcher," he says modestly, thinking it's no big deal. "I've been all over the world though." He says humbly, but Tia feels like he's secretly gloating.

"Now wait just a second!" Tia finally breaks in. "I don't need a babysitter, I can handle traveling on my own." She takes offense to being treated like a little kid.

"Really, then where's Bulbasaur?" Tom says looking a little cross.

"Right here." She looks down by her leg where Bulbasaur _was _sitting. "Oh no where did she go?" Tia panics before spotting her Pokemon nuzzling against her mom's leg.

"Such an affectionate Pokemon." She laughs looking down at it. Tia looks at Tom who had raised an eyebrow to her.

"Fine you win, you can tag along." She gives up grabbing her Bulbasaur. "Now, let's take on Route 1." She declares pointing at the town exit.

"You're just a power plant of energy aren't you?" Tom asks wryly and completely killing the mood. He sighs, "Fine, onward!" He says with dry enthusiasm and runs after her with Cleffa in arms.

* * *

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the second chapter and please feel free to give your thoughts on the story. Next chapter we'll finally be delving into the training aspect where Tia gets her first taste of what Pokemon battles are really like.


	3. Chapter 3: Training

Chapter 3: Training

The two traveling companions make their way through the lush, green grass of the wilderness on their way to their first destination: Viridian City. The sight of Rattata and Pidgey surrounding the young trainers. A gentle breeze passes through Tia's hair as it gleams in the sunlight.

"It's such a nice day out." Tia says, admiring the beautiful weather. "So, should we get to Viridian soon?" She looks back at Tom, who is observing the environment around them.

"Why the rush, shouldn't you and Bulbasaur do a little training along the way?" Tom asks a little surprised she hadn't considered it yet.

"Oh yeah, I forgot." She laughs and rubs the back of her head. Tom just sighs, rubbing the bridge of his nose. "So who do we battle?" She looks around itching for a fight.

"Hold your Horseas," Tom puts a hand on her shoulder. "Before you attack a random trainer try that Rattata right over there." He mentions and pointing over her shoulder.

"Okay, Bulbasaur go!" She shouts standing her ground while Bulbasaur runs up to the hapless Rattata. She stares down the rat Pokemon awaiting her master's command; for a curiously long amount of time.

"Um... this is the part where you call out an attack." Tom tells her as he really tries to be patient. He could help but wonder if she had what it takes to be a trainer.

"Got it, Bulbasaur Solarbeam!" She shouts proudly. Tom literally face palms while Bulbasaur looks back in confusion. "What happened, why didn't Bulbasaur use it?" She scratches her head; not sure what to make of this situation.

"_God sake,_" Tom mutters under his breath. "Use Tackle for the love of god!" He shouts making sure she heard him that time.

"Oh Tackle," She says blankly and deciding to just go with it.

Instantly Bulbasaur springs into action tackling her foe stunning the Rattata making it angrier. The angry Pokemon begins a charge of its own catching Tia's eye.

"Bulbasaur, watch out!" Without hesitating Bulbasaur dodges before preparing to strike again. "Hit it with another Tackle!" Tia shouts, finding her groove, finally.

Complying, Bulbasaur sends another attack at the rat Pokemon. That was enough to do it; Rattata collapses where it stood causing Bulbasaur cheer. Tia running up to her partner and proudly grabs her in her arms. "That was great Bulbasaur!" She hugs her Pokemon. "It already seems like you're stronger."

Tom claps, walking up to them both. "Great job the both of you." Tom says; Cleffa giving a small cheer herself. "Sorry I yelled, but you have to understand that certain moves have to be learned as your Pokemon grow stronger." He calmly explains to her.

"Oh, so that's why we couldn't use Solarbeam?" She says finally starting to get it. She made sure to commit it to memory and learn when Pokemon learn certain moves.

"Exactly," Tom takes a sigh of relief that she's starting to get it.

"Perfect, so the more training we do the more moves Bulbasaur learns." Tia makes ure she understands."

Tom nods, "Remember that Pokemon can only know four moves at a time though." This was a critical fact for any Pokemon trainer to know.

"Got it! In that case, Tackle!" She shouts and directing Bulbasaur to the first Pokemon she sees: a Pidgey. A direct hit sends Pidgey stammering away, it turns with a sharp eye on the Pokemon who dared to disturb it. With a swift motion Pidgey lunges forward and lands a Tackle itself. Bulbasaur stammers, but recovers with ease.

"Oh someone's angry, good thing that's not stronger or you'd be in real trouble." Tom warns her. Amused as he was he's still carefully calculating type advantage. Normally she'd be at a huge disadvantage against a Flying type.

"Shake it off Bulbasaur and send another Tackle." Tia strategically says. In a split second the Pidgey dodges Bulbasaur's attack and follows up by kicking up sand with its talons. Sand getting in Bulbasaur's eyes impairing her sight.

"Careful Tia, that's Sand Attack." Tom says warily. "It lowers a Pokémon's accuracy."

"Don't worry, Bulbasaur you know what to do" She says feeling superior to the Pidgey.

Bulbasaur shakes her head and goes to attack which unfortunately misses the target. Pidgey takes this chance to strike back with its own Tackle hitting Bulbasaur hard. "Oh no, this isn't good. Please Bulbasaur, you can do it!" Tia panics.

Bulbasaur hears her master's pleas causing her to concentrate and focus on the Pidgey. Waiting and hoping for the right timing. With one final Tackle it nails Pidgey into submission. Bulbasaur sighs heavy now that it's over.

"Yes, we did it!" Tia jumps up and down, grabs Bulbasaur and spins around.

"Another solid battle, but Bulbasaur seems tired. We should probably get to the Pokemon Center." Tom heavy suggests as he looks over the disheveled Grass type. "Viridian isn't far from here thankfully." Tom takes the lead through Route 1.

"I know, I have left Pallet Town before. Just never with a Pokemon to fight with." She explains. "I've never been in a Pokemon Center either." She says feeling like such a novice.

"We all have to start somewhere. Thankfully, you've got me to help." He says with a toothy grin.

"Oh how humble of you." She gives him a sideways glance.

He laughs nervously, "Sorry, I didn't mean to sound like I was bragging." He apologizes.

"You mean: sorry you made it so obvious?" She smirks.

"Oh, we got a smart one here Cleffa." He chuckles which makes Tia giggle a little herself. "I see the city up a head," he points out to a clearing leading to a paved road.

Tom and Tia both eagerly run forward to their destinations: _Viridian City: The City of Evergreen_.


	4. Chapter 4: The Pokedex

Chapter 4: The Pokedex

The two trainers take their first steps into the lively Viridian City and are immediately immersed in the hustle and bustle of the city. Tom spots the Pokemon Center and takes the lead while Tia followed close behind taking in sights of the urban landscape. A huge difference from her Podunk little Pallet Town. Walking into the Pokemon Center they are greeted by a nurse and her Chansey.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokemon Center. How can we help you?" Nurse Joy asks politely and wearing a pleasant smile.

"Nurse Joy, my Bulbasaur got hurt training earlier." Tia says a little more distressed than she probably should be. She shows her the few bruises on Bulbasaur then calls her Pokemon back into the ball.

Nurse Joy lightly chuckles, "Don't worry about a thing your Bulbasaur just has a few scrapes and bruises. It will be fine in no time." Nurse Joy assures her.

"Also, Nurse Joy, could we possibly borrow a room for the night?" Tom asks politely.

"Absolutely, we always have fresh beds for traveling trainers." Nurse Joy very pleasantly responds. She takes Bulbasaur's ball around the counter and hands Tia and Tom a room key. "I hope you two don't mind sharing a room; it has two beds to sleep on and full bathroom." She smiles cheerfully.

"That is perfect, thank you Nurse Joy." Tom returns her cheery demeanor. Taking his key and walking out of the center.

"Hey, where are we going?" Tia walks out confused and following Tom.

"The PokeMart," he says rather plainly and without even looking back at her.

"Oh yeah supplies forgot." She laughs it off.

"_Of course you did._" Tom says under his breath. They walk into the Mart which was packed from floor to ceiling with supplies; Potions, Pokeballs, Food, and miscellaneous things like maps, local guides, and snacks.

"Oh wow, where do we begin?" Tia says in awe of all the supplies.

"First your wallet," Tom says harshly. "Count'em up."

Tia quickly opens her bag pulling out a small purse her mom remembered to pack for her. "Two hundred's all I've got." She gives a shy grin.

Tom just sighs shaking his head. "That'll get you one Potion." He says. Suddenly Tia looks devastated. "Hold on to it, I can cover all our supplies. Pay me back when you can." He smiles to relieve her worries. Tom gets to work on picking out all their supplies, Potions, Pokeballs, the works. The two of them walk out of the store, filling their bags.

"Thanks for helping me so much Tom." Tia says gratefully. "I know I'm not a very good trainer yet." She looks down.

"Don't worry about it. I was a new trainer once too." He puts a hand on her shoulder.

Tia turns her head up, "One second there is something I want to get." She runs back into the PokeMart. She emerges a few moments later with a magazine. "I saw this and thought it'd be helpful." She holds her hands out with a copy of 'Pokemon Trainer's Essentials Guide'.

"Good choice, read it well the advice in there is top notch." He grins with a thumbs up. "Come on, let's get back to the Pokemon Center." The two of them make their ways back to the Pokemon Center. When they walk in a frantic man in a lab coat runs up to them.

"Tia, thank god I found you!" The lab assistant run up to her. "Prof. Oak sent me to deliver this." He holds up a small box.

"What's this?" She opens the small box revealing a small, red electronic device. Tia picks it up and opens it like a folder. Inside it has a screen on the left side and a series of buttons on the right.

"This is a Pokedex, an advance Pokemon encyclopedia. Find a Pokemon and point the Pokedex at it." He instructs her.

"Okay," she smiled and turns around, "smile Cleffa." She points the Pokedex at Cleffa. A second later the Pokedex turns on and lists off type, description, and characteristics. "Wow, that's so cool!" Tia cheers.

"Professor wanted you help him study the Pokemon of this region to see all the new information we can gather." Oak's aide explains.

"I'd love to help." Tia tells him pleasantly, feeling special for having a special job like this. She turns around again, showing it to Tom. "Isn't this awesome Tom?" She asks, absolutely giddy.

"That's great for you, Tia. You'll get a lot of use out of that for sure." Tom smiles happy for her now she has a large responsibility. "Well we should get to our room now, it's getting late." Tom waves goodbye to the Aide, Tia following close behind.

The two of them walk into the room and notice Bulbasaur's Pokeball. Tia runs up to it and reveals her Pokemon. "Bulbasaur look at this!" Tia pulls out her Pokedex and scans in Bulbasaur; showing off the stats on the Pokedex.

Tom set his things down on the bed. "Well, Cleffa and I are going to get something to eat, care to join us?" Tom invites her warmly.

"Thanks, but I need a shower." She laughs, Tom nods and walks out with Cleffa, as Bulbasaur hops on her bed.

Tom steps out with Cleffa in his arms and walks to a local diner. Along the way he pulls out a small device: an X-Transceiver.

He dials up a number and gets a blinking message. "Really, still blocking my calls?" He says out loud. He holds Cleffa a little closer and continues to talk to himself. "How petty are you going to be?" He asks nobody and continues walking.

He walks into the local diner which at the moment was pretty quiet. He sits at the counter deciding what to eat. He places Cleffa on the counter in front of him and scans over the menu. "What do you feel like getting Cleffa?" He asks jokingly and trying to get his mind off the blocked phone call. Cleffa starts speaking making Tom chuckle. "I know, don't worry I have special Pokemon food for you." He pats her on the head and holds her again. He gets a waitresses attention, "Ma'am, we'd like two cheese burgers to go." He says with his usual toothy grin. He waits patiently and begins to stare blankly at his X-Transceiver.

He eventually gets the food and heads out. He feels like this should be good enough for the night and heads back to the room. He hears the sound of running water and Tia's humming from the bathroom. He sets the food on the table with Cleffa and grabs some supplies from his bag. He looks through a local guidebook of the region and takes a few notes. "_It's still a long ways away with the routes we'll be going on._" Tom mutters to himself before taking hold of Cleffa once more. He hears the water shut off and Tia's light footsteps heading towards the door.

Walking out into the room Tia notices Tom sitting on his bed with Cleffa. "Hey Tia, how's the water?" He asks innocently enough.

Tia panics making sure that's she's covered. "Ah!" She shouts turning away from him. "What are you doing back so soon?" She asks flustered.

"We decided on take out. We got you a burger; figured you're hungry." He continues to talk like it's no big deal.

She can just feel that he's staring at her which makes her feel horribly embarrassed. "Stop looking at me!" She shouts still avoiding his gaze.

"But you have such nice, porcelain skin." He says politely as he admires her figure.

"Get out!" Tia shouts.

"Fine, I'll give Cleffa her bath." He takes Cleffa and walks into the bathroom.

Tia takes a deep breath and sits on the bed with Bulbasaur. "Guess it's okay if you see me in a towel, not like you can tell anyone." She laughs letting Bulbasaur hop into her lap and nuzzled against her chest. "Okay, now I need to get dressed." She sets down her Pokemon and grabs her pajamas. Her favorite pair of black pajama pants and blouse. She sits down at the table set by the window and starts eating.

From inside the bathroom Tom washes Cleffa with a soft pink wash rag. "We'll get you squeaky clean, isn't that right?" He coos while Cleffa splashes around in the tub. Then Cleffa turns to him and starts talking to him. "She doesn't need to know." He says calmly, Cleffa continues talking. "Yeah, I know we're going to run into her eventually, I'll think of something, we have plenty of time." He tells his Cleffa; understanding what she's saying perfectly. He grabs Cleffa and dries her off. He brings her back into the room and sets her on his bed. "Okay, now I'll get my shower." Tom walks back into the bathroom.

Tia is still sitting in the chair staring out the window then looks over at Cleffa. "Hi, Cleffa." Tia waves, standing up and sits next to Cleffa. Bulbasaur hopping up onto the bed also. "Have a nice bath?" She asks playfully. Cleffa smiles and speaks to Tia. "Um, I guess that's a yes?" She can't really understand Pokemon, at least not like Tom can. She can kind of understand Bulbasaur, but it seems like Tom can talk to any Pokemon. She pokes Cleffa and chuckles, "You're so soft, it's kind of funny." Tia's not that use to Pokemon yet. It's different dealing with them in real life. Cleffa smiles and jumps up and down on the bed. "Oh, you like bouncing?" Tia starts to bounce while she sits, laughing and making Cleffa bounce higher.

"Someone's having fun." Tom walks out of the bathroom in a towel. Cleffa runs over to him, and speaks to him. "Oh really? Well you are pretty soft and cute as a button." He gets a big smile on his face.

"How do you do that?" Tia asks.

"Do what?" He asks without even thinking about.

"Talk to Pokemon," she says surprised he doesn't think it's odd.

"It's easy, there's a bond every trainer shares with their Pokemon. Plus, I hatched and raised little Cleffa over here. She's with me every day so we've come to understand each other." He smile picking up his pink ball of sunshine. "Try talking to Bulbasaur." He suggests.

"Okay, how are you, Bulbasaur?" She smiles looks down at her Pokemon. Bulbasaur tries talking to her. "Oh I get it, you're tired." She smiles which makes Tom laugh. "What's so funny?" She scowls at him.

"Sorry Tia, but Bulbasaur's hungry." He chuckles again. "They haven't eaten yet. Here, I'll get dressed and feed them." He begins to remove his towel from his waist.

"Ah, little warning!" She whips her head around and tries not to look.

He finishing getting dressed, "Why, I've got nothing to hide?" He says casually. Tom walks over to his bag and pulls out some Pokemon food for the both of them. He grabs Cleffa and puts her on the table with her food and Pokeball. Then sets Bulbasaur's on the floor next to her.

Tia sits down and watches Bulbasaur scarf down the food; she smiles seeing her so happy. Once she was done they were ready for bed. "Okay, Bulbasaur return." She calls her Bulbasaur back to the ball in a flash of light.

"Bedtime Cleffa, which will it be?" Tom asks patiently. Cleffa looks over at him then the Pokeball. Cleffa decides, she walks up to the Pokeball and presses the button returning back to the ball. "Good girl," he gives the Pokeball a little kiss.

"You let Cleffa choose?" Tia asks in surprise.

"I don't mind either way. It's nice if she stays in her ball, but she's still a baby." He says with a very gentle, caring voice. He climbs into bed and flicks off the lights. "Well, good night Tia."

"Night Tom." She lies down in bed and quickly dowses off. All the while dreams of what it'll be like to be a Pokemon trainer flash in her mind.

* * *

A/N: We learn a little bit more about Tom in this chapter as well as a little foreshadowing. This is also close to twice the size of any of the previous chapters. Hope you all enjoyed and thank you all for reading!


	5. Chapter 5: Forest Dreams

Chapter 5: Forest Dreams

The lush greens of the Viridian Forest shines brightly on the young trainers as they trek through the tall grass with a mixture of bug types chirping around them. "Wow, Viridian Forest is so pretty!" Tia says in awe of her surroundings.

"Careful though, Viridian Forest is a natural maze, don't want you to get lost in here." He says cautiously keeping close to her. "Wouldn't want the monsters to get you." He laughs.

"There are no such things as monsters." She doesn't let his jokes get to her.

"How can you be so sure? I heard rumors of people who enter and never leave!" He feints a scary voice.

"Stop it Tom no one's kidnapping people." She turns up her head.

"Tell that to the Slenderman." He laughs again before she elbows him in the stomach. "Ow, okay I get it no more jokes." He says rubbing his stomach. "Keep an eye out though, we aren't the only trainers here." He warns her while looking around.

"He's right," a voice says from behind them. They turn around to see a couple of bug catchers. "So you two are trainers too? Then let's battle!" The first boys says anxiously.

"Okay, you got it!" Tia looks at the first boy; itching for a real Pokemon battle. "This will be my first real battle come on Bulbasaur!" She shouts call her Pokemon out of the ball.

"Then it's you and me." The second boy says to Tom.

"Actually, I'm not a trainer. Cleffa and I don't battle." Tom admits, disappointing the bug trainer.

"Oh come on, you have a Pokemon, let's have a quick battle." The kid whines.

Tom sighs, "Fine follow me, we'll give these two some space." Tom says, walking away with the bug catcher.

"Okay, Bulbasaur let's go!" Bulbasaur steps forward, confidently awaiting her trainer's orders.

"Go, Caterpie!" The trainer shouts. "Bug types resist grass types, and are super effective against Grass types." He says feeling confident.

Tia recalls before heading into the forest that Bulbasaur apparently learned a new move. She grabs her Pokedex to check. "We'll see, Bulbasaur try out our new move." Tia points at Caterpie, "Vine Whip!" She shouts. A pair of vine fly out of Bulbasaur's back near the pod and lash out at Caterpie. The attack connects hitting the Bug type hard, but still doesn't seem to have the force she was expecting.

"See I told you," he laughs. "Tackle!" Caterpie runs up to Bulbasaur to tackle her.

"Dodge!" Tia shouts in the nick of time. Bulbasaur quickly jumps out of the way of the charging Caterpie. "Okay, tackle it yourself." She instructs Bulbasaur, who quickly complies with a more powerful blow to the smaller Pokemon. The attack connects with Caterpie sending it flying back.

"Quick, String Shot!" The bug catcher shouts back, Caterpie shots a string of web that sticks to Bulbasaur's feet. "Now, Tackle!" Commanding his Caterpie seamlessly.

"Bulbasaur, brace yourself, don't move!" Tia instructs Bulbasaur stays still and takes the hit. Bulbasaur winces and slides back. "Perfect, counter it with your own Tackle." Tia smiles with victory in sight. Bulbasaur's attack hits head on making Caterpie faint. "Yes, we did it!" Tia cheers grabbing Bulbasaur.

"No way! Caterpie return…" He says defeated.

They suddenly hear clapping from behind. "Good job, Tia, and Bulbasaur." Tom says with Cleffa in his arms; both smiling. "Come on let's go, we don't want to be stuck out here too long." He laughs.

"Here, you earned this." The bug catcher hands Tia some money for her victory.

"Thanks, it was good battle." Tia smiles and walks off with Tom.

The second bug catcher walks up after the two had left, holding his Metapod, which was in much worse looking condition. "What happened?" Tia's opponent says surprised.

"You wouldn't believe it, 'not a trainer'. I don't believe that for a second." He shakes a little thinking about.

"Really that strong?" He's surprised, Tom looked completely harmless.

Tia and Tom continue through the forest. "So how did you beat that guy?" Tia begs the question while walking along the path.

"I just told him that I don't like to battle. Cleffa's a lover; not a fighter." Tom says as he nestles Cleffa in his arms. "I don't even know her move set." He laughs.

"Really, I thought I was a rookie?" She laughs, and pulls out her magazine she picked up in Viridian. "It says here that Cleffa knows Pound and Charm." She looks through the magazine more to get as much information as she can. "This thing is filled with so much stuff, it has an advice panel from Prof. Oak." She looks so interested. "Hey, you've worked with Oak, have you ever had anything published?" She has a feeling he has.

"Yeah, I did a brief expose on breeding." Tom smiles. "It was just a small piece." He says humbly.

"That's awesome, glad I have you as a travel partner." Tia gives him a cheesy smile.

"Really, I thought just the other day you didn't need a partner?" He laughs as they keep walking.

"When that was before I knew how cool you were." She admits while blushing shyly.

"Thanks, Tia. Well, it's been a long day and we're losing sun. We should probably camp out here." He says walking up to a lakebed in the middle of the forest.

"Wait, camping? Like sleeping outside?" Tia asks surprised.

"Of course, didn't bring sleeping bags for our health." He laughs as he sets down his bag. "We can wash up in the lake and I'll start a fire." He starts gathering sticks.

"Maybe I should have chosen Charmander." She teases. Knowing she wouldn't chose any other Pokemon over her Bulbasaur. "While you're doing that, I'll clean myself up in the lake. No peeking!" She shouts, still uncomfortable that she's going to bathe in a lake. Tom walks off and Tia quickly hides by some bushes. She walks up to the water and stick in her toe. "It's cold." She shivers a little before setting her foot in the water. Goosebumps cover her body, she continues walking forward in the cold lake. She finally make it waist deep and can feel herself getting colder. She finally decides to go under and drench herself head to toe, when she comes up her entire body shimmers in the light of the sun. She swims deeper into the water until she's up to her neck. "Much better." She finally starts to warm up, swimming back and forward. "Never thought I'd enjoy skinny dipping so much." She wrings out her hair. "Tom better not come in while I'm here, or I'll kill him." She says and then chuckles a little. "Well, it's not like he'll tell anyone, he's practically harmless. Would it really be that bad? He doesn't care I'm sure." She stops and thinks for a second. "I should stop talking to myself." She rubs the back of her head, embarrassed, hoping no one heard her. She swims to shore and steps out. She walks over to her bag and grabs a dry towel, and slowly dries off her silky, smooth skin. She grabs her clothes quickly gets dressed. She sees a small fire has been started so Tom must be getting more wood and tinder. She spreads her sleeping bag near the fire and takes a seat. Next she pulls out her brush. She uses the fire to help her dry off while she brushes her hair. Bulbasaur jumps into her lap and nestle close to the fire. "Want me to brush you too?" She laughs and runs the brush over Bulbasaur's head. Bulbasaur rests her eyes as Tia's brush glided over her head.

She hears rustling from the bushes, Cleffa comes out with a small stack of sticks and leaves, Tom close behind with a large pile of wood and broken branches. He looks over at her, "Hey Tia, how's the water?" He asks as he wipes a few beads of sweat from his brow.

"Cold," she says calmly with a soft smile.

"Figured, well it won't get any warmer, come on Cleffa!" He runs over to the lake and throws off his clothes. Tia notices for the first time that Tom's actually pretty well built. Not too skinny, but definitely not anywhere close to fat.

She decides to lie down on her sleeping bag, she feels the gentle breeze passing over her. She reaches into her bag to pull out the magazine.

Tom wades through the water with Cleffa. He hadn't taken a nice dip in a lake in a very long time. He enjoyed the feel of nature and all its serene beauty. After about ten or some minutes of swimming he heads back to the camp where Tia awaited.

Tia watches her emerge from the water and quickly whips her head around. "Can't you come out with a towel or something?" She complains feeling awfully embarrassed.

He shrugs, "It's not that big of a deal. I don't care if you saw anything." He says in a way that makes it almost seem like a norm to him.

"What about modesty and decency?" She turns up her noses while he gets dressed.

"Trust me Tia, you wouldn't be the first girl to see me without my clothes on." He says gauging her reaction.

Her cheeks burn red as she shouts. "What the hell is that supposed to me?" She asks not really wanting to know that answer.

"I think we both know what I'm talking about." Tom winks with a sneaky grin.

Tia groans and sits down on her sleeping bag. "God, I'll take back all I said. I'd rather be alone right now." She says stubbornly.

"Then who'd feed you and your Pokemon?" He says with his toothy grin and a handful of food for them all.

"Fine, you win this round," she takes the food and eats quickly. She still stops to think about his comments before. "Now that you mention it though, do you have a girlfriend?" She asks him, curious after what he had said.

"I did," He looks down at the fire, "it's complicated." Clearly not wanting to talk about it.

"Oh sorry, didn't know it was a sore subject." She says tensely.

"It's fine, you didn't know. It's in the past." He says lost deep in thought. "Well, it's late. I'm going to sleep." He sets down his Pokeball; Cleffa decides to return. "Two nights in a row, Good girl." He says climbing into his sleeping bag.

"Night, Tom..." She says quietly climbs into her sleeping bag.

Tia lies down as well, "Good night Tom, sleep well." Tia says softly and turns her back to the fire. This was the first time she really felt like a trainer. She finally knew what it was like to be like those who dared to take on the world with Pokemon by their side. It excited her in so many ways. She could hardly sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Stone Cold Battle

Chapter 6: Stone Cold Fight

The two trainers finally make their way into Pewter City after fighting their way through Viridian Forest. "Man, I thought we'd never get out of there." Tia says relieved to see a big city again.

"Well it was good experience at least." Tom laughs thinking it wasn't too bad, though he isn't the trainer here. "You heading to the Pokemon Center?"

"Yeah, aren't you?" Tia wonders why he wouldn't.

"Well, Cleffa's fine and I want to do some sightseeing." He wanted to see how things had changed since he'd last been here. "After Bulbasaur's been fully healed you should check out the Pokemon Gym." He suggests.

"Pokemon Gym?" She thinks for a moment, "Oh yeah, that's the Pokemon league thing." She remembers feeling silly she forgot in the first place.

"The gym leader's name is Brock, a Rock type gym leader." He instructs Tia as he walks away. "Good luck!" He says and cheerfully makes his way to the museum.

Tom continues walking around the calm city streets. Not much has changed other than a few new faces. He walks into the museum that he spent of plenty of time there in the past. Pewter City's museum hosted one of the largest collections of Pokemon fossils and artifacts in the world. Researchers came from all over to study them.

"So how about you and me talk about Pokemon over dinner?" A man asks a woman over by the fossils. His voice immediately catches Tom's attention. The man was a few years older than him with spiky brown hair.

"Maybe so other time." She says uninterested the guys proposal.

Tom walks up quietly. "Swing and a miss eh Brock?" Tom laughs.

Brock immediately recognizes the voice and turns around. "Tom! It's been too long man." He smiles and pats him on his back. "So what brings you back to Kanto?" He asks surprised to see him again. "Not challenging the league I'm sure."

"I actually stopped by to see Professor Oak and kind of got tied up in other plans." He says hesitantly.

"Well it's great to see you again. Oh and who's this cutie?" He smiles looking down at Cleffa who was smiling cheerfully. "Well aren't you just a ball of sunshine." He smiles tickling Cleffa.

"She's a sweet one that's for sure, I hatched her back in Johto." Tom explains.

"Oh, so this is who the article was written about?" He gets back up on Tom's level. "So what are these 'other plans' you got yourself into." Brock asks suspiciously.

"I'm glad I ran into you actually. A girl's going to challenging your gym; she's a new trainer I've been tasked with helping on her journey." Tom tells Brock knowing that he wouldn't dare go easy on a trainer.

"You and a girl? Tom you sly devil." He jokes nudging Tom's side.

"It's not like that at all. She's a friend I'm helping." He says rolling his eyes and annoyed that Brock was making that kind of conclusion.

"So what about you and-" Tom cuts Brock off.

"I'm not talking about that, got it?" He'd rather avoid the sore spot that is his previous relationship.

"Fine, but she's still pissed. I'm just saying you can't avoid her forever." He warms him. "Especially if your friend is taking on the league."

"I know, I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. Until then I've got time," he assures Brock. Though he can't help feel a little uneasy that he won't be able to fix things.

"Okay then, well I should get back to the gym. I heard a cute girl is waiting for me there." He teases Tom again.

"Knock her dead, stud." Tom said blandly as Brock runs out. "_He's screwed,_" Tom says to himself before laughing and walking out himself.

Before Tia stood a large stone building surrounded by rocks. "Okay, here it is the Pewter City gym." Tia stares down the gym. "Ready Bulbasaur?" She asks as her Pokemon stands poised. "Perfect," she throws open the doors. "I've come to challenge the gym leader, Brock, to a Pokemon battle!" She shouts then notices the empty gym. "Hello?" She asks only to get an echo in return. "I said I want a gym battle!" Still no reply. "What the hell?" She asks herself. "Well, this is a waste of time. Thanks a lot Tom." She starts walking away when Brock comes running up.

"Wait, don't go!" He comes running up shouting at Tia. "I...I accept..." He pants and breathes heavily trying to catch his breath.

"Are you okay?" She asks.

He finally regains his composure. "I'm Brock the Pewter City gym leader." He grin hoping to impress her. "And may I ask what you name is lovely, young lady?" He asks in an obviously flirtatious manner.

"I'm Tia," she says awkwardly.

"Pretty name for a pretty girl." He says hoping she likes his compliment. "Well, Tia let's not waste any more time and start this battle." Brock escorts her into the gym by the hand. "This will be an official Pokemon League battle, the winner will be determined in a one-on-one Pokemon battle. The battle continues until one Pokemon is unable to battle." Brock explains all the rules of a battle. "The challenger is allow to change Pokemon at any time." He further explains.

"Alright, let's do this Bulbasaur!" She shouts as Bulbasaur runs into the arena.

A Bulbasaur? This could be thinks to himself. "Okay, go Onix!" He shouts throwing a Pokeball. Suddenly, the light erupts into the shape of a giant serpent made entirely out of rock and stone. Its roars practically shake the entire building. While poor Bulbasaur dwarfed it in size.

"Okay, Bulbasaur let's start with a Tackle attack!" Tia makes the first move. She shouts her Bulbasaur who obediently runs up to the goliath of a Pokemon and barely harms it. "What happened?" She asks, surprised that her tiny plant Pokemon didn't hurt the giant rock serpent.

"You're joking right?" Brock asks confused. "Onix's defenses are top notch a simple Tackle won't do anything to him." He proudly exclaims.

"Oh no, what do we do now?" She panics forgetting the obvious answer.

"Tia, this is your conscious. Remember type advantage." The voice instructs.

"My conscious?" She seems surprised. "You sound familiar?" She's more confused than anything.

"Dammit Tom, quit helping her!" Brock shouts looking up at the balcony above.

Tia quickly looks up as he ducks down hoping she didn't see him. "Type advantage?" She snaps her fingers, "That's it." She pulls out her Pokedex and checks Onix's type and its weaknesses. "It's weak to grass types!" She says amazed at her luck. "Bulbasaur quickly-" She stops herself. When she wasn't paying attention Onix jumped on the chance to bind her Bulbasaur.

"This is why we pay attention to our battles." Brock laughs while Tia thinks up a strategy.

"Bulbasaur use a Vine Whip!" She instructs her. Bulbasaur nods and lets two vines sprout from her sides and begins pelting Onix forcing it to release her. "Great Job!" She cheers with a thumbs up.

"Onix Rock Throw!" Brock continues his attack despite the setbacks. Rocks come fall from all around Bulbasaur threatening to crush her. Tia carefully instructs her to dodge and weave through the falling gravel.

Bulbasaur is finally right in Onix's face. "Before he can grab you. Use your Sleep Powder!" As Tia says it spores shoot out of the bulb on Bulbasaur's back. The powder lands right in Onix's face and make it drowsy.

"Uh oh..." Brock realizes the position he's in.

"'Uh oh' is right." She smirks, "Now, Vine Whip him into submission!" She points forward causing Bulbasaur to send her vines flying at Onix who was fast asleep. Hit after hit connects until Brock finally calls the battle.

"Onix is unable to fight. The winner is the challenger, Tia." He says unbiasedly.

"We did it!" She cheers grabbing her Pokemon in her arms. Suddenly, Bulbasaur starts glowing.

She quickly sets her down. "What's going on?" She was a little scared about what's happening.

"She's evolving!" Tom walks up with Cleffa in arms.

"No way!" She was shocked as ever. Tia stood still and started in wonder. Bulbasaur's body was glowing and changing before her eyes. Finally, the evolution completed and her new Pokemon proudly shouted her name. The bulb on Bulbasaur's back was open and she grew in size a little as well.

"She's an Ivysaur now." Tom pats her on the back.

"Ivysaur?" She mulls it over in her mind. "Well you're still my Bulbasaur deep down." She smiles with her Pokemon jumping into her arms. "That tickles." She giggles as she gets use to Ivysaur's form.

"Pardon me, but you did win the match. So, I hereby award you the Boulder Badge as proof of your victory." She sets Ivysaur down and accepts Brock's badge.

"Look Ivysaur, we got the Boulder Badge!" She can barely contain her excitement. "Soon we can take on the Indigo League champion!" She boldly declares.

"One step at a time though. Still seven more badges." Tom reminds her.

"Right, where's the next gym anyways?" She had no clue. She constantly charges blindly so it comes as no real surprise to Tom.

He shakes his head. "Cerulean City, we just have to pass through Mt. Moon to get there."

Brock speaks up. "I'll tell Misty that you're on your way." He looks back at both of them. Though mostly at Tom.

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Tia shouts running out the door Tom chasing her down.

Brock gives a contained laugh and walks into a backroom of the gym. He picks up a phone attached to a computer and dials a number. The call goes out to Misty.

"Hey, Brock it's been a while. How are thing?" The red head asks politely.

"Good, listen a girl named Tia is challenging the Pokemon League and will probably be in Cerulean soon." He advises her.

"Cool, I look forward to it. Is that all?" She asks confused why he'd call just for that reason.

"Actually, she's not alone." He says carefully. "Tom's with her." He says cautiously.

"Really he's back? I'm surprised after what happened when he left." She says knowing the full story.

"He didn't want to talk about it. The strangest thing is that he's not battling; just helping this girl." He says confused.

"She any good?" Misty asks the obvious question.

"Not really, she's got potential. However, she's not nearly on the level of other trainers her age." He continues thinking about how underwhelming the battle was and how she only won because of Tom interfering.

"I think we both know who you are referring too. Well, if that's it I'll see you Brock." She waves goodbye and hangs up.

"_What is he thinking away?_" Brock asks himself.

Meanwhile, "Absolutely not!" Tom shouts at Tia. "It's getting late, we're resting before tackling the next route and Mt. Moon." Tom drags her to the center.

"Aw, but Tom, Ivysaur and I want to battle more." She moans.

"Tomorrow, tonight we sleep." He puts his foot down. "We can start heading to Cerulean tomorrow." He says assertively.

"Fine, but I'm so excited. How can I possibly sleep?" She asks still feeling the adrenaline rush from her first gym battle.

"You'll manage," Tom says blandly. "Even trainers need breaks." He explains.

"Fine, but first thing tomorrow we're taking on Mt. Moon" She happily declares with Ivysaur by her side.

* * *

Well I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and all the foreshadowing. Thank you all for reading and don't forget to leave a review of your thoughts. I'm always happy to read them.


	7. Chapter 7: Rocket

Chapter 7: Rocket

"Tia calm down, Mt. Moon isn't going anywhere!" Tom shouts as he chases her down.

"But I'm just so excited! I got my first badge and now I want to battle more." She says keeping up a steady pace and plowing through all the trainers on the route.

"What you need to do is catch more Pokemon." Tom grabs her by the arm. "Ivysaur's not going to get you through all your battles you know." Tom says with a serious glance.

"But what about you? You only walk around with Cleffa." She rebukes.

"That's different, I'm _not_ a trainer." He states as plainly as he can. "It's not like Cleffa's my only Pokemon anyway. She's just the one I have with me."

"What other kinds of Pokemon do you have?" Tia asks not being afraid to pry into his business as usual.

"That's not important. What is important is that you need more Pokemon. You can have up to six on you at any one time. Why not take advantage of that?" He says avoiding her question entirely.

"Fine, I'll catch a Pokemon." They continue down the trail to the mouth of Mt. Moon. "Hey, there's a Pokemon Center here. Why did we have to stay at Pewter City overnight?" She whines.

"Because I knew there would be trainers here and it was getting later." Tom rationalizes not wanting to be out all night watching her fight trainer after trainer.

"Fine, I'll go heal Ivysaur, then we take on the mountain." Tia says stubbornly as she walks into the center.

"I'll tell you what Cleffa, it is way too draining be around someone as energetic as her." He chuckles and looks down at his Pokemon. He sits on a bench near the Pokemon Center and lets Cleffa walk around. Another small Pokemon walks up to Cleffa and happily greets her. "Aw, a Happiny." Tom chirps, "What are you doing here little guy?" He asks immediately drawing the little Pokemon's attention. He hops on to the bench with Tom and waves at him. "Now where's your trainer?" He asks pleasantly while shaking his tiny hand.

Suddenly a young girl around Tom's age comes running up. "Happiny there you are, I was so worried." The girl says in a panic. Her hair was a bright shade of blonde, eyes that have a silver glisten, and a pale complexion. "I'm sorry if he was bothering you." She grabs her Happiny.

"It's not a problem at all, he was having fun with my Cleffa." Tom picks Cleffa off the ground.

"Aw, cute." She coos looking at Cleffa. "Anyways, thanks for finding him for me. My name's Anna, you?" She asks warmly as she sits beside him on the bench.

"Tom, pleasure to meet you. First time in Kanto?" Tom asks knowing she was probably from Sinnoh.

"Yeah, I started my Pokemon journey a long time ago and finally made it to Kanto. I was born in Snowpoint." She says confirming his thoughts.

"Nice, I was born in Goldenrod, then moved to Littleroot." He thinks back to his times when he was a kid growing up in the big city just to move to a small town.

"Oh I love Hoenn, the beaches are wonderful compared to the frigid snow." She laughs.

"Yeah no kidding." Tom laughs as well. "Well, good luck on your Pokemon journey, and here's a little something for your Happiny." He tucks an Oval Stone in Happiny's little pouch making him grin with joy. "He's an adventurous one, but he really like you too." Tom smiles at pats him on the head.

"Thanks, I really appreciate it." She reaches for a piece of paper and pen and writes something down. "Here, you can have this." She gently puts it in his hand and winks before walking away. Tom looks down and notices it's a number for an X-transceiver, no doubt hers.

Tia comes bursting out of the doors, "Tom, I got another Pokemon!" She declares with a Pokeball in hand.

"Wait how?" He asks with the paper in his hand dainty.

"A man sold me his extremely rare Pokemon, check it out!" She runs into a clearing and tosses the ball into the air. "Go Magikarp!" She shouts as a light burst out of the ball revealing a very plain looking Magikarp.

Tom smacks his hand against his forehead, "You really bought a Magikarp?" He almost couldn't believe it.

"Yeah and she is my new teammate." She smiles holding her new partner in hand.

"That's a male Magikarp." Tom points out.

Tia starts looking him over. "How on earth can you tell?" She asks surprised that one look and he knew.

"Years of practice," he sighs, "Do you even know his moves?" He asks the obvious question any trainer should know about Magikarp.

"Yes, mister smarty pants, it knows Splash. Which I will demonstrate right now." She sets her Magikarp down and points at a Jigglypuff minding its own business. "Go Magikarp, use Splash attack!" She shouts. Magikarp immediately focus with an oddly serious look in his eyes and continues splashing up and down; more aggressively though. "Magikarp, what are you doing? Attack!" She berates her Pokemon, while the Jigglypuff walks away unknowingly.

"Ahem, Splash: the user just flops and splashes around to no effect at all..." Tom recites the Pokedex entry.

"What, to no effect?" She was in absolute dismay. "That lying son of bitch! He said this thing was a powerful Pokemon!" She kicks the Magikarp.

"Hey!" Tom runs over to Magikarp, "You're the one who bought him; you should at least take responsibility and not hit him!" He picks him up and rubs Magikarp's side. "He might not be strong, but he has a lot of willpower I can tell." He feels bad for the poor Pokemon.

"What use is he if he can't even attack?" She complains.

"Look at Ivysaur, she's gotten a lot stronger through training. So will Magikarp." He hands her the Pokemon and picking up Cleffa, but accidently drops the piece of paper.

"Huh, what's that?" Tia asks returning Magikarp to his Pokeball.

"It's nothing." He says before Tia quickly snatches it up.

"Nothing my ass, it's a girl's number isn't it? Tom, you sly devil." She smirks at him.

"She just gave it to me, I didn't ask for it." He snatches it out of her hand and puts it in his pocket. "I'm not looking to pick up girls anyway." He pouts thinking about his previous failed relationship.

"Okay fine, let's just head into Mt. Moon now." Tia leads the way into the mountain. They are surrounded by darkness upon entering. "Wow, it's so dark it's like it goes on forever." Tia observes.

"Careful, it's very easy to get lost in here trust me. Let's stay close." Tom cautions her. By the time he turns around he sees her running off to find wild Pokemon and trainers to fight_._ "_What did I just say?_" He mutters to himself. He begrudgingly walks over to her.

"Hey look that's a new Pokemon!" She pulls out her Pokedex.

"Zubat, the Bat Pokemon. Zubat tend to sleep during the day and reside in dark caves." It spouts off the information to her.

Tom groans, "Here's something I didn't miss when I was in Unova." He rubs his forehead.

"What do you mean?" She asks confused.

"You can't take five steps without running into a damn wild Zubat." He relives the irritation. "Just beat it and move on. You're bound to run into at least a dozen more."

Tia lifts her Pokeball and calls out her Pokemon, "Go Magikarp!" She shouts. "Now I know you aren't able to fight, but I figure if you watch Ivysaur you'll get some experience and learn to fight." She throws her other ball and releases Ivysaur. "Now Ivysaur hit it with a Vine Whip!" She commands. Ivysaur listens to her trainer and whips her vines at Zubat knocking it to the ground. "That a girl! You see that Magikarp?" She asks her Magikarp as he splashes up and down.

"Oh, he seems really excited now." Tom notices and politely rubs the scales on Magikarp. "Boosting his morale will definitely help." He says happy that Tia's starting to get a hold on being a trainer. They suddenly hear an odd rumbling and feel an odd shaking not long after. "What was that an earthquake?" Tom asks himself. Cleffa starts trembling, "Oh no," his face turns to pure dread.

"What's going on Tom?" Tia asks grabbing Magikarp and making sure Ivysaur was close behind.

"Okay men spread out, that's an order!" A man comes running into the tunnel with a huge group of people behind him wearing black clothes with red Rs on them.

Tom and Tia duck behind a wall, returning her Pokemon. They watch the troops running through the cave trapping every Pokemon they see. "Who are they?" Tia asks frightened.

"Team Rocket," Tom grits his teeth. "Notorious Pokemon poachers. They steal and capture any Pokemon and use them as weapons for their own evil doing." Tom punches a wall.

"That's horrible, why are they doing this?" Tia couldn't believe what she was hearing.

"Profit, take the best Pokemon and sell them to the highest bidder. It's all about power and wealth for them. They don't see Pokemon as the living beings they are." Tom holds Cleffa close terrified at the idea that someone would steal her away from him.

"I won't let them!" Tia shouts and run out from behind the wall.

"Tia wait!" Tom shouts, but it was too late she was spotted.

"Hey kid get out of here, this is no place for you!" The leader of the squad shouts with his Ekans glaring at her poised to fight.

"Not a chance you jerk!" She shouts and throwing Ivysaur's Pokeball to the ground. In the flash of light Ivysaur comes bursting out in a full on sprint at the Ekans and whips it with a vine.

"You bitch, don't get in our way or you will pay!" He returns his fainted Ekans and calls out a much larger Rhyhorn. "Body Slam!" The large boulder like Pokemon charges and plows into Ivysaur sending her flying backwards.

"Ivysaur, are you okay?" She quickly gets her footing back and nods to Tia indicating that it would take a lot more than that to knock her out. "Okay, send out a Vine Whip barrage! Hit it with all you got!" Ivysaur grins and sends strike after strike. Rhyhorn manages to dodge a few of the attacks and continues its charge. "Perfect," Tia grins mischievously, "Point blank: Sleep Powder!" Spores shot out of the bulb on Ivysaur's back and spray all over Rhyhorn's face causing it to slump over and fall asleep.

"Damn you!" He calls his Pokemon back so it doesn't get beat down further. "Men, get over here we have a pesky trainer who thinks she can take us." The man shouts getting a bunch of Team Rocket members' attention. Within moments Ivysaur was completely outnumbered by Pokemon all shapes and sizes.

"I have no choice, Magikarp we need help!" She sends out Magikarp who hopelessly splashes around.

They start laughing, "Oh no, she's going to Splash us into surrendering." One of the rockets taunts her and promptly gets a hit to the face from Magikarp. "Ah, damn Magikarp that hurt!" He whines and sicks his Pokemon on him.

"Magikarp, was that a Tackle?" She asks surprised. "Okay, dodge then Tackle the Rattata." She instructs her Pokemon. "Ivysaur, stay strong throw some more Vine Whips and Tackles!"

The barrage keeps up for a while Tia barely managing to fight her way through the different Pokemon. It was looking hopeless as more Pokemon kept coming and her Pokemon became more and more fatigued.

"I don't know how much longer we can keep this up!" She panics noticing that their numbers are barely shrinking. "We need a miracle." She says scared that she's going to lose her Pokemon.

A miracle wasn't quite what she got through; the tunnel echoed a loud howl. A burst of fire charges through the tunnel and hit the crowd full on. After the flames die down she sees an Arcanine growling with a very intimidating look.

"Whose is that?" The leader asks with great shock.

"That would be me," A voice from off in the distances says. A man wearing all black with a blank white mask over his face revealing only his right glowing green eye stares the, down. "You best leave before you regret it like the rest." His voice was distorted due to a microphone in his mask that was altering his voice and pitch; which making impossible to distinguish his real voice.

"And why should we, you're just one guy?" The leader says with a cocky grin.

"If you insist. Girl, call your Pokemon back." He calmly instructs Tia. She quietly agrees watching him. "Arcanine," He extends out his arm revealing a white glove over his hand, "Fire Blast." He orders with his same calm demeanor. Arcanine shoots a huge burst of fire out spreading and consuming all the Pokemon around it. Once the flames cleared every one of the Pokemon, even rock types were knocked out completely.

"That's not possible!" The man returns his Pokemon and makes a run for it with the rest of the grunts. The mysterious trainer hops on his Arcanine and in the blink of an eye they were standing at the exit blocking it off. "You! I heard about you! You're that monster of a trainer: Mysterious Trainer X!" He declares barely getting a response in return.

"Correct," This is all X has to say.

"You ruined our plans back in Viridian, now here too?" He shouts furious.

"You seem surprised, tell your leader he won't beat me." He warns them and again in the blink of an eye he vanishes.

"Wow, he's so cool!" Tia admires this new trainer. "Oh crap, Tom!" She panics and goes to check on him. "Tom, are you here?" She runs down the tunnels and back behind the wall they were hiding by.

He's huddled in the corner holding onto Cleffa's Pokeball for dear life. "Oh Tia, thank god! Are you alright." He asks looking frazzled and panicked.

"Yeah, all the Team Rocket grunts fled." She proudly declares.

"Wow, how did you beat all of them?" He asks in amazement.

"Well, it was actually that Mysterious Trainer X who did most of the work." She laughs thinking about how heroically his Arcanine sprang into action and how fast it was.

"Who?" Tom asks confused.

"He's guy with a black suit, a weird voice distorting white mask, and a super powerful Arcanine!" She couldn't help but fawn over how cool he was.

"Really?" He ponders this for a second. "I'm sorry I couldn't help, but you know Cleffa and I don't fight." He feels bad for leaving her to the sharks.

"It's fine, let's just get to the center so I can heal Ivysaur and Magikarp. They both fought great!" She was happy with her Pokemon and how bravely they fought.

"See, I told you Magikarp would get better." Tom smiles and leads the way to the exit of Mt. Moon through Cerulean's entrance. Along the way he stops to think again. "Oh I almost forgot, I found this." He reaches into his back and pulls out a rock. "A Moon Stone, this is perfect for evolving certain Pokemon. Isn't that cool?" He smiles showing it to her.

Although, Tia doesn't quite see the appeal. "That's neat," she feints interest and keeps walking. "How much longer until we get out of here?" She asks a little worried they could get attacked again.

"Just up ahead I think that's the light from the exit right there." Tom runs forward hoping to get out of the mountain cave as soon as possible. Once outside they are treated to the sounds of sirens and Officer Jenny running around apprehending various grunts. "Good to see Officer Jenny has this thing handled." Tom laughs.

"It wasn't Jenny who did this." A guy says as he runs up to Tom and Tia. "It was the legendary Mysterious Trainer X and his trusted Arcanine." The guy proclaims.

"Legendary?" Tom asks skeptically.

"He's like the greatest trainer in the world, some say he's never lost a battle before either. I'm his biggest fan." The rabid fan's green eyes are practically glowing in awe of his favorite trainer. "Did you see him?" He asks excited.

"I did, he's pretty cool." Tia gloats.

"No way, so lucky! Jenny wouldn't even let me in the cave to get a picture." He whines.

"That's enough Jason!" Officer Jenny scolds him, "Leave these trainers alone." She gets between him and Tia. "Move along, the centers not far from here, stay safe." She says politely.

* * *

A/N: We had a bit of a long one here, but I am happy to finally introduce two of my favorite characters so far. Thank you all for reading and don't forget to follow the story for new updates every Wednesday. Also, please feel free to leave a review with your thoughts and opinions. Good or bad, I'm always happy to get fan feedback and comments.


	8. Chapter 8: Cerulean City of Blues

Chapter 8: Cerulean City of Blues

Tia and Tom make their way to the Pokemon Center where Tia quickly heals her Pokemon. "Okay, let's head to the gym now!" Tia says anxious as ever. Even after her battle with Team Rocket she is not ready to quit.

"Right now, can't we wait until tomorrow?" Tom on the other hand is more than content with resting.

"No way, it's still day out for crying out loud Tom." She walks out with him lagging behind with Cleffa. "What's with you?" She asks surprised to see him this depressed.

"I just realized something I'd rather not talk about." Tom slumps and hangs his head low.

Tia gets that it's best not to bug him about it so she drops the subject and treks forward to the gym with a spring in her step. She swings the doors open, "I'm here to face the Gym Leader!" Her declaration rings loudly throughout the entire gym..

"Okay, I heard you, geez make a girl go deaf." An annoyed red haired girl stands about five feet from the door. "Listen, I'm too busy right now, come back tomorrow." She says scrambling around with a few Pokeballs in hand.

"What, but I'm challenging the gym," Tia whines. "You have to accept my challenge." Tia's odd sense of self-entitlement gets Tom's attention.

"Where did you hear that? Gym leaders can deny a challenge if it's inconvenient." Tom explains from over her shoulder. He desperately hopes he's not noticed.

"Wait?" The girl looks past Tia and right at Tom. "Well look who decided to show his face!" She shouts with that same fiery temper Tom was used to.

Tom sighs, "Nice to see you too, Misty."

"You two know each other?" Tia asks, "Wait; is she your ex-girlfriend?" Tia looks on in shock that this could be the woman Tom was talking about.

"Oh god no!" Misty quickly dashes any thoughts Tia had with pure disgust.

"Thanks Mist, really necessary." He says dryly. "No Tia, but she is friends with my ex nonetheless. And this is the last we'll speak of it." He groans.

"So you found another girl?" Misty points to Tia who feels the heat shifting to her. "And stop calling me Mist!"

"No! She's a friend that all. I'm not in Kanto to pick up women." Tom explains as simply as possible.

"What about that girl you got the number from at the entrance to Mt. Moon?" Tia chooses the worst possible time to bring this fact up. Misty's eyes glare at him as she wished they were daggers.

"Thanks Tia; that _really _helped." He says making no effort to hide his annoyed sarcasm. "Listen, I want to make amends, but I want it to be from my mouth, so please don't tell her I'm in Kanto, okay?" Tom pleas to Misty with all the sincerity he can muster.

"Fine, only because I have bigger problems than your annoying love life." She scoffs. "Team Rocket grunts have been popping up all over the Nugget Bridge and I intend to stop them." Misty gathers her Pokeballs and runs out the door.

"You heard her Tom, let's go!" Tia chases after Misty.

"Oh no you don't!" Tom grabs her by the arm. "Mist is an expert water trainer; you're a newbie. You'll only get in the way." Tom scolds her, but out of genuine concern for her safety.

"Hey, I fought off those other grunts!" She claims.

"No, that X guy did. You softened them up apparently." He speaks the truth from what Tia told him.. "We're going back to the center, I'm not going to let you go out there and get hurt!" He scowls until she gives in.

"Fine, I don't like it, but if it will get you off my back." Tia says irritated. She wants to do more, even though she's not an expert trainer she couldn't help feel so useless sitting and waiting.

They head back to the Pokemon Center and rest in their room. Hours pass while Tia sits around wishing she could do anything at all. "Calm down, just get some sleep and you can have your battle in the morning." Tom says in a vain attempt to get her to calm down.

"But there are Rocket agents out there and we doing nothing." Tia slams her hand against the counter in a fit.

"There's nothing we can do. Face it you can't take all those guys. Just get some sleep." Tom lies down on his bed and slowly starts falling asleep. His words are harsh, but in the back of her mind Tia knew he was right.

It's the middle of the night and everything is silent in the Pokemon Center. Except for Tia. "Tom are you awake?" Tia asks quietly and gets silence in return. "Perfect," she smirks and silently sneaks out of bed and quickly gets dressed. She grabs her Pokeballs and creeps to the door.

She quickly makes her way outside in the pitch blackness that surrounded her. She silently traverse through town until she found the Nugget Bridge that Misty had mentioned previously. She sneaks around until she sees Team Rocket grunts gathered around. "Look who we found meddling around in our plans." She overhears one of the voices. She gets closer while ducking out of sight.

She sees Misty tied up and surrounded by the grunts. "You'll regret this is I swear!" She shouts as she tries to unrestraint herself.

"Quite the mouth for a captive, I guess we need to teacher her a lesson." One of the grunts call out his Beedrill. Misty stares petrified at the looming Bug Type.

"Please, I hate bugs!" She squirms around trying to escape its gaze.

"Well what do you know our intel was right. The mighty water gym leader's afraid of some simple bugs." He taunts her and laughs at her futile attempts to escape, "Poison Jab!" He shouts.

Thinking fast Tia sent out Ivysaur to knock the Beedrill away with a Vine Whip. "Who did that?" The grunt demands looking around. Tia sends Magikarp next to hit the grunt with a Tackle attack to his face. "Okay, now I'm angry!" He shouts. Magikarp continues floundering around finishing off the Beedrill. He kicks Magikarp off the bridge and grabs Misty by the scruff of her neck. "Get out here now or I swear she'll be going off the bridge next!" He demands.

Tia has no choice but to come out of hiding. "Let her go!" She demands in return.

"You, you did this?" He scowls at Tia while she nods. "Men, get her!" Instantly, a flurry Pokemon come flying out of every Pokeball covering the bridge. He laughs maniacally and tosses Misty off the bridge. "Attack!" He orders with such vigor and malice.

"No!" Tia was too worried about Misty to concentrate on the battle. Ivysaur was getting pounded on all sides by various Pokemon. "Please, Magikarp you have to save her!" She shouts in the water looking for any sign of her Magikarp.

The water under the bridge starts to ripple and rise violently. Misty rapidly surfaces and keep raising out of the water with a waterfall rushing under her.

"What on earth is that?" The head grunt shouts in disbelief.

"Magikarp!" Tia looks up in amazement that Magikarp was now a fully evolved Gyarados. The face he made was full of rage. Immediately focusing on the Pokemon that the grunts were commanding and launches a Dragon Rage at them. "That's amazing!" Tia couldn't believe it. Gyarados slowly lowers his head and drops off Misty.

"Thank you, I don't think I could have made it without you and your Pokemon." Misty coughs up water and tries catching her breath. Tia goes to work on untying her giving the grunts more than enough time to regroup.

"You better call off your Gyarados, or you'll regret it." They quickly realize that they are surrounded. Tia begrudgingly says nothing signifying Gyarados to stand down, Ivysaur as well. "Good girls, now you and your Pokemon are coming with us." The head grunt grins with a malicious smile.

Tia can't help but feel so useless. She knew she was getting in over her head from the start. She went on anyway. She may have saved Misty, but did she actually just delay the inevitable? She lowers her head and awaits her fate.

A small glimmer of hope roars in the distance catching everyone's attention.

"What now?" The head grunt notices the sound of a Pokemon run up with blinding speed.

"I recommend you let those girls go." An odd distorted voice says in the darkness.

"Oh no, you!" His face turns to pure horror.

The moonlight and Arcanine's fiery mane perfectly illuminate Mysterious Trainer X. "I said let them go!" His voice exuded such force it sends chills down Tia's spine.

"What are you going to do there's dozens of us and only one of you." He bolsters like an idiot.

"They never learn," he says with a calm deadpan voice. "Extreme Speed." In the blink of an eye dozens of Pokemon fall in Arcanine's wake. It now stood face to face with the head grunt. "I'll tell you one more time. Let them go!" His single exposed eye looked murderous as it glared at him.

"Fine, take them please just don't hurt me!" He grovels on the ground before X and his unreal Arcanine. The grunt is absolutely traumatized by fear. Almost as if X himself was forcing fear onto him. Manipulating his emotions and contorting his mind into a nightmare.

Arcanine slowly walks over to Tia and Misty. "Get on," X calmly takes them by the hand. Tia and Misty climb silently onto Arcanine's back, before charging off with incredible speed back to Misty's gym. They make their stop and dismount Arcanine.

"Thank you, we owe you." Tia smiles and rubs Arcanine's soft fur.

Misty looks concerned at X. "Who are you?" She gazes at him skeptically. X just stares back at her with little expression in his eye and rides off without a word. "I figured."

"Wait X, I wanted a battle!" Tia shouts to no avail. "What is it with mysterious men that women go crazy for?" She mulls to herself.

Misty begins to walk back into her gym, "Thank you, Tia. You saved me." She says gently, but is still a little shaken by the night's events.

"Hey, X did most the work." She humbly dismisses Misty's praise.

"I mean you saved me from drowning, I would have been a goner if it weren't for that Gyarados of yours." She turns around and embraces Tia.

Tia is surprised by Misty's affection to say the least, "Um, you're welcome. It's alright you would have done the same thing." She says awkwardly.

Misty lets go and blushes, "Sorry, I got a bit out of hand, but I mean it, I owe you. So tomorrow first thing in the morning I'll give you that gym battle you wanted so badly." She smiles.

Tia's face lights up, "Thank you, Misty!" She grabs her hands and smiles widely. "I can't wait, I'll definitely earn this badge, and without Tom's help." She adds confidently.

"Good to know, I don't want him in my gym anyways." She grits her teeth.

"Why is there so much bad blood between you two anyways? He seems like a perfectly nice guy; harmless even." Tia still didn't get why Misty was so mad at him.

"Because when he left, he upset my friend. She hasn't been the same since." Misty makes a fist.

"Okay, I have to ask; who is this girl that he was dating?" Tia finally address the elephant in the room.

"A little late for gossip isn't it you two?" Tia hears a voice speaking softly into her ear. She nearly leaps out of her skin and turns around so see Tom looking very irritated.

"Ah Tom!" Tia tries to recover, amazed how he snuck up like a ninja. "I couldn't sleep is all," she lies.

"Uh-huh sure, so you just decided to walk out of the center and to the gym." He asks feinting ignorance, "You also just happened to run into Mist and you did nothing else." He continues with is calm interrogating voice.

"Yeah..." She says shakily.

"Bull!" He shouts causing her to leap with much unrest. "You went after Team Rocket didn't you?" He asks, pissed that she's trying to lie to him.

"Fine, I did, because I didn't want to sit around doing nothing like you!" She shouts back getting in his face.

"That was stupid; you're not ready to fight like that. Luckily Mist was there to help I'm sure." He scolds her with this vicious side that Tia has never seen before.

"You're wrong! I would have drowned if it weren't for her." Misty says putting her hand on his shoulder.

He looks over surprised, "Really?" Misty nods, Tom looks back at Tia who was expecting an apology. "I didn't know, sorry." He swallows his pride.

"That's right, you didn't know." She snaps back at him, "Misty and I are having our gym battle in the morning too, and you're not allowed to watch." She says like a little kid refusing to share a toy.

"Fine, see if I care. You need to learn to walk on your own two feet anyway." Tom says insultingly. "One thing though, what happened in my past is none of your damn business. Got it?" He walks off and back into the center.

"Jerk!" Tia shouts. "Sorry Misty, I don't know what's up with him." She sighs and shrugs her shoulders.

"Its fine, believe it or not he's calmed down a lot since we last met." She laughs a little ahead back into her gym. "I'll see you in the morning." She waves Tia goodbye. Tia walks back to the center and lies down without a word to Tom and falls asleep. The excitement from the day's events still rung in her mind. She can't seem to get X out of her mind either. He's powerful beyond belief. It was almost terrifying, but captivating as well. Regardless, she slowly slips into sleep so she'd be well rested for the coming battle in the morning.

* * *

A/N: It goes without saying, but I love writing X. I hope you all enjoyed and thank you for reading. As always I welcome anyone to review and share their thoughts.


	9. Chapter 9: Torrential Battle

Chapter 9: Torrential Battle

Tia wakes up bright and early in the morning to greet the dawn. She gets dressed and notices that Tom had already left. This is for the best, she didn't want to have to deal with him right now anyway. She grabs her Pokeballs and heads out of the Pokemon Center. She's greeted with a gentle breeze and a horizon lit up by the rising sun. The ground glistened as the soft dew on the grass shimmered in the light. This was the quaint and subtle beauty of Cerulean City that many loved so much.

Tia stops to admire the weather as she quickly heads to the gym where she sees Misty sitting outside waiting; letting the soft wisps of fresh air pass over her.

Misty turns to her and smiles, "Tia, I'm glad you could make it."

"Thanks, I can't wait to get my second badge." Tia has an air of confidence about her since she knew Ivysaur could level any Water type in her path.

"I like your confidence, but I have a request." Misty looks to Tia with a little uncertainty. "I know that your Ivysaur will easily beat my Water types. That's why I want to have a battle with your Gyarados." She requests with a soft smile. This is a true test of Tia's skill. Misty wouldn't learn much about her opponent when she was at the clear disadvantage.

"That's a great idea, I want to see how powerful Gyarados has become." Tia is absolutely giddy to fight Misty and earn her badge. "I'll warn you though I won't go easy on you." She winks and laughs.

"Good, wouldn't want to beat you _that_ easily." Misty retorts while goading Tia with a smirk. She casually leads her into the gym and through a hallway. The walls are lined with aquariums and large tanks housing many Water types.

"We'll use the pool for our battle." She gestures to the large pool of water with small platforms floating around in it located in the center of a large arena with high risers all around.

"Wow, this is so cool!" Tia resists the urge to take a swim in it. "Come on out Gyarados!" She tosses her Pokeball above the water and unleashes her giant sea serpent of a Pokemon. Gyarados roars proudly as he serpentines through the water.

"Then I'll start with my Staryu." She calls out her star fish Pokemon. "Now for the formalities." She says under her breath. "This is an official Pokemon League gym battle. The challenger and the gym leader will battle until one team is unable battle. The challenger may substitute their Pokemon whenever they choose. If the challenger wins they will be awarded the Cascade Badge as proof of victory." She spouts off the usual terms of a battle. "But I'm sure you knew all this already so let's not waste any more time." Misty gets a look of determination in her eyes. "Okay start off with a Water Pulse!" Staryu jumps out of the water and sends a blast of water at Gyarados.

Gyarados brushes off the attack and roars. "Good job Gyarados let's try our new attack. Dragon Rage!" Tia commands and Gyarados roars as he gladly sends a large burst of energy from his large, threatening mouth towards Misty's unprepared Pokemon which blasts Staryu directly.

"Nice hit, but don't think I'll let you get that lucky again, I'm just testing your mettle." Misty smirks, "Okay Staryu time for our all-out offensive!" Staryu spins like a disc through the air flying right at Gyarados. "Let's see how well you can dodge this." Misty laughs. Staryu flies around pelting him with Rapid Spin after Rapid Spin. Misty's all-out offensive was certainly that and more in Tia's experience.

"Come on Gyarados," Tia worries while her Gyarados takes a bunch of hits from Staryu. "Okay focus and Bite Staryu!" Gyarados whirls his head around trying to catch Staryu in vain. The damage keeps piling up as Gyarados's massive jaw snaps at Misty's Pokemon. He finally gets a hold of Staryu and bites down hard before tossing it the water with a large splash. Staryu slowly surfaces and flies out even more aggressively. "Gyarados go under!" He dives down into the pool with Staryu close in tow.

Under the surface Gyarados continues to swim and serpentine to avoid further hits from Staryu. Misty's Pokemon is very persistent however. Gyarados was slowly pick up on Staryu's pattern of movement, as was Tia, but still continued to lose health little by little.

Tia gathered Misty's strategy was to slowly chip away at her opponent's health and exhaust them. A stark contrast to Tia's much more up front and aggressive style she'd gotten used to. She had no choice, Tia needed to adapt a new strategy if she wanted to beat Misty.

Tia stopped to think for a moment and quickly thinks up a counter offensive. "Gyarados, I want you to jump out of the water." Gyarados looks towards his trainer and complies. Gyarados emerges from the pool and flies up into the air.

Misty looks up as Gyarados's scales shimmered against the droplets of water. "Aren't Water types amazing?" She admires the beauty, but doesn't stray too far from her thoughts of battling. "Follow him Staryu!"

Staryu does just that and tears out of the water like a saw blade. Tia smiles; glad Misty fell for her little trap. "Gyarados flip in the air and whip Staryu with your tail." Gyarados quickly backflips in the air and swats Staryu to the ground. "Now, while it's down: Dragon Rage!" Tia felt confident this would be the decisive blow on Staryu. Staryu attempted to recover, but couldn't react fast enough to stop the oncoming burst of energy Gyarados had unleashed.

"Impressive, but don't think this battle is over yet." Misty calls back her Staryu and grabs her second Pokemon. "Go, Starmie!" With a bright flash of light a Purple Staryu with an extra set of arms emerges. "Now, Swift!" Starmie immediately sends out a barrage of stars flying towards Gyarados.

"Dodge!" Tia panics as she tries to keep up with the attack's staggering speed. Gyarados does his best but it's like the stars were drawn to him like a homing device. Direct hit, it wasn't much, but all the hits are starting to get to Gyarados. "What just happened?" In lieu of what just happened Tia had to know.

"Like it? Swift can't miss, sure it's not that powerful, but it adds up." She grins with an advantage over her opponent. More of Misty's tried-and-true offense she'd demonstrated so far.

"Then I'll just have to hit you harder! Dragon Rage!" Gyarados's attack manages to catch Starmie after much effort. Tia gives a thumbs to Gyarados, "Great job, now make sure you stay a safe distance away!" She carefully instructs Gyarados who dives back under water and serpentines through the wading water.

"Don't let him get away Starmie." Starmie chases after Gyarados through the water with a large splash as it spins violently.

Tia grins, "Just what I wanted. Now, Dragon Rage again!" Gyarados to strike as he coils around Starmie. He quickly turns and blasts Starmie point blank. "Looks like Starmie down. Didn't think that'd work twice." Tia says victoriously.

Misty smiles softly, "Starmie use Recover." Starmie starts to glow and slowly heals itself of most of its injuries. Tia was staring in disbelief at the revitalized Starmie. "Swift," This is all Misty has to say before hitting Gyarados point blank causing him to faint.

"No way!" Tia still couldn't believe what she saw. She calls back Gyarados. "You fought well Gyarados." He may have fainted, but surely he did put up one hell of a fight.

Misty nods, "You're Gyarados is no push over. Glad to see you aren't either." Misty's coy smile definitely showed her approval.

"Alight then I guess that just leaves Ivysaur." Tia calls out her last Pokemon. Her ever reliable starter stands on one of the platforms in the middle of the pool. "Don't let the water worry you Ivysaur." Starmie immediately comes flying at Ivysaur who had very little room to move. "Use your vines to grab it!" Tia hopes her plan works. Sure enough Ivysaur gets a firm grasp on Misty's Pokemon.

"Starmie, use Swift again. This time don't let up!" Starmie unleashes a barrage of stars at Ivysaur who was forced to take each hit.

"Ivysaur hold out a bit more and start whirling you vines around in a circle." Ivysaur starts spinning in a circle and rapidly builds momentum. "Now release!" On Tia's command Ivysaur loosens her grip and lets Starmie fly off like a top. Starmie continues to fly unto it's stopped by wall while it found itself wedged into. "Finish it with a Sleep Powder." This was to prevent it from continuously using Recover.

The battle is essentially over. At this point Misty would just be saving Tia the effort of pummeling her Starmie. "Great match," she concedes; calling back Starmie. "As a gym leader I'm to give this badge to a trainer who proves herself. You did that excellently Tia." Misty walks up and hands her a badge from her pocket.

"Thanks Misty, maybe we can have a match again sometime?" Tia smiles as she adds the badge to her case right next to Brock's Boulder Badge.

"I'd really like that." She says with a gentle smile. To Tia's surprise Misty gives her a quickly peck on the cheek and walks off with a wave. All while flashing that same enticed smile. Tia stands there for a second and holds her hand against her cheek in amazement. She feels her cheeks warming up and quickly walks out of the gym without a word. Her mind quickly retunes to her victory over Misty and how she is now one step closer to beating the Pokemon league.

* * *

A/N: Thank you all for reading and hoped you enjoyed. Please feel free to review and give me your thoughts on the story thus far. This was the first chapter that really required a pretty substantial amount of rewriting. It's even almost twice as long as it originally was. I just wanted to highlight what a battle in my mind should be like. This is a taste of how battles will operate in the future when it's not just a bunch of grunts.


	10. Chapter 10: A Date?

Chapter 10: A Date?

"I'll tell you what Cleffa that girl is stubborn as a Tauros and a skull thicker than Marowak's!" Tom vents his frustrations. While he says all this he realizes that this pretty much applies to both Tia and Misty. He sighs, "I need a drink. Let's get some tea at the cafe." Tom suggests making Cleffa cheer. He could complain all he wanted, but the weather at least left him in high spirits. The two head to a quaint little café that sat near a small river.

They walk into the café and take in the soothing atmosphere. Tom orders a cup of tea and a small glass of juice for Cleffa. He takes his seat and watches the water from the river sparkle in the morning sun. The light shines in on him making his eyes and hair to shimmer. He stares with a distant look in his eyes. He is so wrapped in a nostalgic feeling that he fails to notice a few girls checking him out and whispering to each other. His attention is pulled when he sees a small figure running up to him. He looks down and spots a Happiny.

"Well look who it is," he smiles and picks him up. "So where's Anna this time?" Tom playfully speaks to Happiny.

"Happiny!" Tom hears a girl's voice come from the other end of the café, a voice he's all too familiar with. Anna runs up and notices who is holding him. "Tom?"

"Hey," he smiles and returns her Pokemon, "Care join us?" He chuckles and waves a hand at an empty chair invitingly.

A couple minutes pass and the waitress brings them their drinks. Cleffa drinks from a small bent straw joyfully. After a small elegant sip Tom looks back up at her. "Honestly didn't expect to run into you again so soon." He is pleasantly surprised and happy to be in friendly company.

"Same here, with everything going on with that Team Rocket I thought it'd be best if stayed in Cerulean for a couple days. Saffron's completely shut off down south of here." She tells him. This surprises Tom a great deal. "But enough about that," she laughs cautiously trying to change the subject to a much lighter topic.

"Yeah, so I was meaning to ask. How has your journey gone?" He politely takes an interest in her adventures thus far.

"Good, I spent a while travelling through the Sinnoh region collecting all the badges and challenging the league." She humbly admits. "Although, I quickly realized I didn't want to be a trainer, so I traveled to Hoenn to try to be a coordinator. Not the best idea in the world for a girl with two left feet." She laughs, making Tom laugh at her joke as well. "So now I'm exploring Kanto, because I found out that I want to be a breeder." She smiles warmly at her Happiny.

"Sounds like you've had a lot of experience in the past." Tom is happy to see someone his own age is just as worldly as he is. "Me, I'm just a researcher." He jokes. "I've spent a lot of my time away from home and travelling to all the different regions." He thinks about all the many adventures he's had and all the Pokemon he's met. "The highlight was when I was able to study with Professor Samuel Oak and Mr. Pokemon themselves." He says with great enthusiasm. "That's when I hatched this cutie." He coos and tickles Cleffa.

Anna's eye suddenly widen like something just hit her like a ton of bricks. "No way, how didn't I see it before?" She says out loud drawing his attention.

"What's up?" He tilts his head in confused.

She quickly scrambles and digs into her bag before she pulls out an old issue of Pokemon Monthly. On it was a picture of Professor Oak, Mr. Pokemon, and a slightly younger Tom holding his Cleffa. "I've read your article at least 100 times." She says adamantly. "Your article is the reason I wanted to be a breeder." She says trying not to sound like a raving fan girl.

"I'm flattered, but it wasn't really much." He says humbly.

"What do you mean it took up five pages? It's amazing!" She exclaims before quickly regaining her composure. "I'm sorry, it's just I always wanted to meet." She blushes wildly and averts her gaze.

Tom thinks for a moment and finishes off his tea. He stands up which catches her off guard. He extends a hand down, "Here, let's go somewhere more private to talk." He pleasantly takes her trembling hand. They both walk out side by side and head to the pier beyond the Nugget Bridge.

"I'm sorry about before." She looks at her bright red face as she looks out at the water.

"Don't be, honestly I'm surprised I have a fan." He chuckles as he stares off at the water with the same distant look as before.

"A fan, yeah... I guess I'm a fan." She looks down almost disappointed.

Tom looks at her reflecting in the water and sigh, "You're a great girl in all..." This catches her attention and makes her look back over at him.

"Th...Thank you..." Her voice trails off as she continues to blush wildly.

"I'm sorry, the reason I came back to Kanto was because I had a girlfriend, but I messed things up and now I want to try and make them right again." He says knowing that this probably won't make her feel any better.

"I see..." She says giving off the slightest bit of disappoint she is desperately trying to conceal. "I guess I should have imagined it would be too good to be true." She says mournfully.

"Don't feel bad, you'll find some guy. A girl as pretty as you are will have no problem getting whatever guy you want." He tries cheering her up, but quickly realizes that approach only works when someone is consoling a friend; not someone who is harboring a crush. "Here, I'll be right back."

A couple moments later he walks up with two ice cream cones. "I hope you like Vanilla." He smiles with his infectious, toothy grin and offers it to her. They take their seats on a bench nearby and continue to gaze out at the crystal clear waters.

"I'm sorry I put you in this awkward position." Anna apologizes.

"It's fine, again I'm flattered." Tom is more cheerful about this situation which makes her smile again.

"I've never had a boyfriend before, so I guess I just had a crush on you figuring we'd never meet in real life. You know, like how every girl has some celebrity crush that they know they'll never have a chance with." She finally laughs feeling silly looking at it in retrospect.

"I know what you mean. I had a crush like that once." He smiles nostalgically.

"Really, who?" She laughs almost not believing it.

"That's a secret." He winks just to tease her.

"Hey, that's not fair. I told you so it's only fair you tell me." She pretends to pout and jokes back with a childlike argument.

"Fine," He finally gives in and takes a deep breath and leans in close to her ear. He whispers near silently into Anna's ear and feels a little relieved to have said it.

"Seriously?" She asks in shock and more than a little surprised. "No offense, but why her?" She didn't want to question Tom's taste, but the lady in question definitely had a bit of a reputation about her.

"She's a great trainer, and only two years older than me. I remember the first time I saw her battle; it was before I started my journey. I was with my dad at a Pokemon League conference and she was with the former gym leader. Eventually, she had a chance to battle some other trainer and the way she fought was amazing. I'd never seen anymore command Pokemon with such calm vigor." He himself begins to realize he is acting like an obsessed fan boy. "Sorry, I was rambling." He rubs the back of his head awkwardly and eats the last of his ice cream.

Anna shakes her head, "You're fine; I know that feeling. Like Butterfree in your stomach." She laughs and swallows her ice cream as well. "Well, I guess I shouldn't bother you any further." She stands up.

Tom relaxingly stands up as well. "Hey, it's fine. You're not bothering me at all." He tries to make her feel better; hoping she doesn't think she's feeling like a pest.

She shakes her head once more, "It's fine; I need to get going anyways. I hope you have good luck making up with your girlfriend." She says happily without jealousy.

"Thanks, and good luck to you too." He smiles.

Before she walks off she swallows hard and approaches him. "If it doesn't work out, please call me." She says almost desperately while trying not to shake like a leaf. "Maybe... maybe then we could have a second date." She smiles gently making Tom realize.

"Tea, Cerulean pier, and ice cream. Yeah, that's about an average Cerulean City date." He laughs trying not to feel bad for himself or her.

She looks into his eye as he meets her gaze she silently leans forward. In that very moment he could have stopped it, but he could feel it. Her emotions: desire, jealous, and heartache. He knew for her sake that it was okay. She gently lays her lips on his as he caresses her cheek tenderly. He knew he owed her at least this much. The kiss lasts a few fleeting seconds, but feels like an eternity in her mind. Once they separate her face had a flash of bright red on her soft cheeks. Looking back at Tom he wasn't mad or surprised. His soft green eyes said everything. He looked very happy and that's all she needed. She quickly walks away leaving him to turn back to the water which shimmering like crystals.

"_I'm sorry..._" He whispers to himself as he pulls a photo from a couple years back. He just smiles with a blank stare and puts in back in his pocket.

* * *

We finally have a bit more of a Tom-centric chapter this week and learn a bit more about his past. I also really enjoying writing Anna's character. Thank you all for reading and please feel free to leave a comment about your thoughts or comments on the series.


	11. Chapter 11: Can You Diglett?

Chapter 11: Can You Diglett?

"What do you mean you won't let me in?" Tia shouts at the guard blocking the way to Saffron City.

"Listen girl I have orders not to let anyone in or out of the city." He is beginning to get more and more annoyed with her pestering.

"By who?" Tia stands her ground impatiently awaiting a response.

"Gym Leader: Sabrina." He snaps back.

The doors open and Tom comes walking through, "Can you maybe call her up and see if she'll let us in?" Tom tries to be polite about it.

"If it'll get you out of my hair sure!" The guard has had about enough of this and picks up a phone attached to a screen. Sabrina's face pops up on screen. "Ms. Sabrina?" He asks shyly.

"What is it?" The Psychic gym leader looks quite cross.

"Two trainers wish to enter Saffron. Should I let them in?" He asks as Tom and Tia appear behind him.

Sabrina's eyes widen and scowl at Tom. "No one is allowed in, no exception. Furthermore," she points at the screen, "that man is to never be allowed in my city!" She shouts sending chills down all their spines.

"Sabrina, now you're just being unreasonable!" Tom shouts.

"Go to hell Tom!" She shouts and hangs up the phone.

"Well that could have gone better." He sighs. "We should probably go." Tom says defeated. They walk out of the guard building with their heads hung low.

"What did you do to piss her off?" Tia asks still a little shocked.

"What did I do to piss off every girl in Kanto?" He groans rubs his forehead.

"Yeah, Tom I'm sorry I got so mad. I shouldn't have been prying in your business." She says humbly and pats him on the back.

"It's fine, I was being a jerk; I admit it." He smiles and extends out a hand. "Friends?"

She smiles and shakes his hand. "Friends," She looks around a bit. "Now what do we do?" She begs the obvious question.

"We can take the underground tunnel to Vermilion City." Tom suggests.

"Perfect!" She smiles and begins to charge off. "Wait a second," She looks closely at Tom. She steps closer and runs her finger over his lips. "Is this lipstick?" She asks in shock.

Tom blushes furiously, "There's a very long story behind it." He panics.

"So I'm working to get my gym badge and you're off having a date?" She asks disgruntled.

"I was, but the kiss was… How do I explain it?" He thinks of how he can possibly justify it. "Hold on, there's lipstick on _your_ cheek." Tom points accusingly.

She remembers how Misty had kissed her. "Yeah about that. Tom is Misty…" She doesn't know how to phrase it.

"Oh yeah," he laughs knowing exactly what Tia's thinking. They walk off into the tunnel on the way to Vermilion. All the while Tom tries to delicately explain the situation.

"So let me get this straight, this girl read your article and developed a crush on you thinking it was harmless enough, but then she met you and felt compelled to try? While you still want to patch things up with your ex, but you didn't want to hurt her feels. Am I right?" She asks trying to wrap her mind around this.

"Exactly, come on we've all had these teenage crushes before." He admits.

"Yeah…" Tia says before letting herself say more.

"I won't ask." Tom at least wants to respect her privacy.

"Thanks," she smiles softly. "That doesn't mean I won't ask." She smirks.

"This doesn't mean I'll tell either." Tom gives her a snarky grin of his own.

They continue their small talk as the end of the tunnel approaches. The two finally see the first gleam of light from outside. Vermilion City was in their sights. The big city greets them as people hustle and bustle through the steets. The S.S Anne was fresh and primed in the port for all to see. "Wow the S.S. Anne is even bigger in real life!" Tia looks on in amazement at the sheer size of the luxury cruise liner.

"Yeah, but the Royal Unova now that's a cruise ship." Tom laughs displaying his worldly knowledge. "Want to check it out?" He checks out her expression as she admires the beautiful ship.

Reality sets in as she lowers her head, "Yeah, but I couldn't afford a ticket to save my life." She says downcast. Tia has always wanted to go aboard a cruise ship, but she never had the money to afford it. A Pokemon trainer could earn the money which was her dad's way of goading her to becoming a trainer.

Tom flashes two tickets in front of her face. "Good thing these don't expire." He grins making Tia's face light up.

She wraps her arms around his waist and buries her face in his stomach. "Tom you're the best." She declares as giddy as can be. "Where did you get these?" She looks over them almost like it was too good to be true.

"A friend of mine gave them to me. His name's Bill; real nice guy if you're ever in Goldenrod City." He flashes a nostalgic grin.

"Why do you have two though?" This question struck a chord with Tom making him frown slightly. "Never mind," she takes back what she said and leaves it well enough alone.

"So you ready?" His mood takes a complete turnaround with a more upbeat tune.

She shakes her head, "I want to look around town first."

Tom shrugs figuring he might as well himself. They agree to meet back up on the pier to the ship and go their own ways.

Tia runs off to the west end of town where a large cave was located. She looks around a bit before heading inside. The interior is stank and dark with a few men in hard hats digging around.

One the men notices Tia and runs up to her, "Another trainer I take it. Be careful this cave is full of hole and pitfalls." He advises her and gives her a hard hat.

"Why's the ground so unstable?" She notices plenty of holes in the ground and eroded earth.

"This is the Diglett Cave. The largest habitat for Diglett in the Kanto Region as the name suggest." He happily informs her as a few Diglett poke out from the ground.

Tia takes one look at them and coos, "Aw, they're so cute." She gushes and squats down in front of one of them. "Hi there little guy." She goes to pet one before it treats back into its hole. "Hey where did you go?" She leans forward and gazes into the hole. Suddenly another Diglett erupts out from behind her and hits her. Tia loses her balance and falls flat on her face.

They can't help but laugh, "Their tricky little things. That's why I gave you the hard hat." He knocks on his helmet to reinforce his point.

Tia gets back to her feet and groans. "I guess this is how they play?" Tia lets it goes with a light hearted laugh. She steps forward and right into another hole where she proceeds to face plant once more. She gets up with fire in her eyes. "That's it, this means war!" She calls out her Ivysaur.

"You know if you put the helmet on you'll be fine." The miner timidly suggests to the now way to angry Tia. She doesn't listen.

She notices a few Diglett's pop out of hole and identifies them as the culprits. "Ivysaur use Razor Leaf on that trio of Diglett over there." Ivysaur takes aim and fires off a few razor sharp leaves at their backs. The trio turns around looking quite angry. "Weird they look a little different from the rest?" Specifically noting that center one was much larger than the regular Diglett she'd seen.

The miner steps back, "Are you dense girl? That's a Dugtrio!"

"A Dugtrio?" She pulls out her Pokedex to investigate it. "Oh it's the evolved form of Diglett that makes sense." She rubs the back of her head with a sheepish laugh. At this point the miner is running for his life. "Hey, where are you going?" Suddenly the ground begins to shake as rubble falls from the ceiling. Tia runs back finally putting on her hard hat. "That's it, I officially hate caves!" She shouts. The Dugtrio burrows into the ground and heads her off. "Fine, if you want a fight then we'll give you one. Ivysaur use Vine Whip!" Ivysaur stretches out her long vines and proceeds to attack Dugtrio in rapid succession.

Dugtrio responds with a powerful Mud Bomb to Ivysaur's face. Ivysaur retracts her vines to wipe the mud from her eyes giving Dugtrio the perfect chance to charge forward with a Bulldoze. Ivysaur stammers a bit before rising to her feet.

"Ivysaur are you okay or do you want Gyarados to take over?" Tia felt like she was in sync with her Pokemon enough to communicate with her like Tom can. Ivysaur looks back at Tia and shakes her head. Tia just smiles and nods, "We're not giving up that easy huh? Alright then charge forward with another Razor Leaf!" Ivysaur runs ahead and unleashes her attack. Thinking face Dugtrio begins to burrow underground. "Quick Ivysaur, Vine Whip!" The Grass type stops Dugtrio with her vines wrapped firmly around it. The Razor Leaf hits dead on and as a result practically knocks out Dugtrio. Tia pauses for a moment. "Oh right!" She reaches into her bag to grab a Pokeball. She tosses it at Dugtrio and calls it into the ball. The ball shakes once, twice, three times, and locks with a ping sound. Tia timidly walks up the Pokeball and picks it up. "I caught Dugtrio?" She takes a second to let it sink in. "I caught Dugtrio!" She cheers having now experienced her first catch. "Ivysaur we did it!" She picks her starter and nuzzles her against her cheek.

The miner comes walking back up, "That was a pretty impressive battle. Just don't try something that reckless again." He begs her.

Tia laughs and apologizes, "Sorry and don't worry I'm done caving forever." She tosses off the hard hat and heads out of Diglett Cave with Ivysaur by her side. She embraces the fresh air and stretches. "I guess we should go find Tom now so we can check out the S.S. Anne." Tia can barely contain her excitement.

* * *

Thank you all for reading and I hope you enjoyed. Please feel free to leave comments about your thoughts on the this chapter and the series. Fun fact: this chapter was originally combined with the next chapter and this whole Diglett Cave portion did not exist. I added this because I didn't want Dugtrio's appearance next chapter to seem shoe horned in. Also, I love this chapter title. I love puns, especially Pokepuns.


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